Minister slams UN rep over alleged ‘prejudice’
Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon slammed UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights country representative Wan-Hea Lee for alleged “prejudice” in a two-page missive released on November 4. The letter was sent to UN Development Project resident representative Claire Van der Vaeren, blasting Wan-Hea Lee for having “crossed the red line of the UN charter . . . under[m]ining the respect for sovereignty and non-interference” when she requested an explanation for the ban recently imposed on opposition leader Sam Rainsy. Sokhon decried the request as Lee “expressing her prejudices against the Royal Government of Cambodia” on the matter. He went on to reference OHCHR’s memorandum of understanding with the Interior Ministry, which expired last December and has yet to be renewed. “In the absence of a valid Memorandum of Understanding between the Royal Government of Cambodia and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the current operation and activities of the OHCHR in Cambodia, including those of its Country Representative, are not legitimate,” Sokhonn wrote.
